“Iramas?” I tried to imagine the mellow Imdiko going toe to toe with Larten and winning.
Seot and Cifa joined Larten in laughing at my disbelief. “Didn’t we mention not to let his easy nature fool you?” my Dramok snickered, sitting cross-legged on the end of the bed.
“Remember when that bull ronka charged him while he was trying to keep it from that heifer?” Cifa’s eyes were wide.
“He damned near broke the poor beast’s leg.” Larten shook his head, his face glowing with pride. “As that poor bull limped away from him, Iramas turned to us and said, ‘I believe the lover is rethinking romance.’”
The guys had to smother their laughter, so as not to wake Anrel in the next room. I laughed because Larten imitated his father’s lazy tone so damned perfectly. I’m not quite buying Iramas taking out a ronka though.
Larten finished answering my question about playing hooky from training camp. “Growing up on Lobam, especially in this isolated area, the rules aren’t ironclad. As long as I didn’t send anyone to the hospital or the morgue, the authorities were satisfied I was handled appropriately.”
“Were you lonely without other boys to train with?”
“There were a couple other boys, both Dramoks, in the vicinity. We got together when chores allowed. They were brothers to me. We stay in contact.”
I eyed Seot. “Oh? Your Nobek speaks to other Dramoks? Where is that famous jealousy of yours?”
He snorted. “Alive and well, but as Larten said, they’re like brothers to him. I deal with it, as I deal with your continued friendship with Betra and Oses.”
“Nice to know you can be a big man about these things,” I teased.
“Don’t push me.”
Ha. I planned to push him, but in a different realm altogether. I started to strip, baring myself for my clan without looking at them. I pulled my blouse off over my head and stretched luxuriously as I let it drift to the floor. “So tired,” I sighed. “Such an emotional day, and I barely slept a wink last night.” I bent to pull my shoes off, my ass thrust in my mates’ direction. “I can’t imagine a single thing that would keep me awake for another second.”
“Uh huh.” I think it was Cifa who spoke, but due to the growly sound of the voice, I couldn’t be sure.
I straightened, just to thrust my rear at them again as I slid my skirt down my legs. “Really, really exhausted.” I kicked the skirt away and smoothed my palms over my panty-clad butt as I stood up straight once more. “I can’t keep my eyes open.”
I unhooked my bra, with my back to the guys. I gave a little shimmy as I shook the straps down my arms and let it fall. I moaned, rubbing my breasts. “Oh, that feels better. Now where did I put my nightie? Did I remember to pack it?”
Those questions might never be answered. I’d barely finished asking them when I found myself surrounded by three eager men, bent on making me forget silly concerns such as sleepwear.
I wasn’t certain who was kissing me where in those first moments. Mouths, teeth, and hands claimed my flesh, overwhelming me. I’m doubtful as to when I was taken from my spot in the middle of the room to the mat, tossed down and drowning in a sensual attack.
For once, Seot was not about finesse. Cifa didn’t bother with careful but exacting play. Larten was himself, and they were like him. I confess, I was too. We were ravenous beasts, grabbing at each other.
I don’t know if it was relief that we were free of Nang’s stalking. I don’t know if it was pent-up rage that we’d been placed in the awful position of having to hide. Or maybe it was desperate comfort we pursued, the security of being safe together. Maybe it was everything and more.
I was mauled as I tore at the men’s clothes. I had only panties to be shredded, which they were before I got to the bed. The lone thing on my mind was filling myself with Seot, Cifa, and Larten; my clan, my loves, my all.
I didn’t have to wait long. Seot yanked me from the other two, flipping me over on my stomach. He grabbed me from behind, pulling so that my knees bent beneath me, raising my ass. He grasped my hips, wedging his thighs between mine, getting me in position. The wet tip of his primary burrowed into my ass.
“I don’t know what you’re wearing, but you smell divine,” he snarled in an animal’s voice. “It’s been driving me crazy all night.”
Note to self: find out what is in Clan Denkar’s homemade soap. My Dramok loves it.
He ground into me, making me accept his thick shaft from behind. I muffled my cries in the mat, not wanting to wake Anrel. I damned sure didn’t want Larten’s parents to hear me. I beat my fists against the soft surface as Seot pushed deep inside my ass. It was the kind of glorious hurt I loved best. The kind of control I preferred wielded over me the most.
My other lovers weren’t about to be left out. No sooner did Seot’s full length claim me when rough hands pushed me up so that my back pressed to his chest. Larten knelt before me, and Cifa stood over us on one side. I had no chance to figure out what was going to happen before it did.
My Imdiko moved close, thrusting towards my face. My mouth gaped open, gasping from the torrid shock and excitement of our violent encounter. Cifa took advantage, pushing his larger cock between my lips with the same demand Seot had made of my ass. It was through more sheer luck than finesse that I swallowed at the right moment, because he went down my throat without a second’s hesitation.
Meanwhile, Larten worked to get his main shaft into my pussy, groaning when he slid home. I found the breath to cry out as his and Seot’s combined girths filled me to bursting. Fortunately, a mouth full of dick kept me from being loud.
Ancestors and prophets, it wasn’t a pretty fuck. I’m not positive what we did was acceptable for most clans. We rutted, pure and simple. I was buffeted from all angles by my clanmates, the center of our desperate storm. They demanded gratification, thrusting in me, pounding against me, fucking and fucking and fucking. I was no more sweetness and light than they were. I pulled hard on Cifa’s secondary, pinched and twisted Larten’s nipples to hear him growl, scored whatever flesh I could reach on any of the three with my nails. We weren’t angry with each other, but that first round was definitely anger sex. Larten and I had tried to relieve that tension days before, but we’d only bled the worst of the pressure off. The fires had continued to burn, and now our safety valves were blown off.
I jerked and jolted between the men as they shoved into me. It was like being caught simultaneously in a tornado, an earthquake, and a hurricane. I loved it. I thought lightning bolts must have been flashing from my fingers, my toes, everywhere. The explosions of passion were too numerous to count, all leading to the big finale, looming ever closer. If my mouth hadn’t been fucked, I would have screamed for more and harder. So what if it had ended in a trip to the hospital? I was crazed to be demolished.
Higher and higher I climbed, my pussy, ass, and mouth clutching at the cocks filling them. Pulling on them, demanding they serve me, fulfill me, make me come.
Excitement surged, the pressure building in my pussy, swelling tight. At last. Climax was there, requiring just another couple of thrusts, just another few seconds. A flash. An instant of silence. Then a huge roaring, with an abrupt blaze of sensation, thundering through my sex, blasting up my spine and down my arms and legs, streaking through my brain.
Mighty heaves followed the ignition, rushing through me. I hung on, riding the swells fed by the heat streaming in my ass and pussy, devouring the sweet pulses of spicy masculine release flooding my mouth. I came and I came, the maddened fury of the last few days at last bleeding away with each rush of passion. I emptied of the helpless anger and filled with serenity.
It must have been the same for my beloveds. The love we made after that initial desperate encounter was more of a careful healing, now that we’d vented the poison that had injected itself into our lives. We emerged the next morning scratched, bruised, and sore—especially the men—but whole once more. The fractures Nang had inflicted on us had been mended. No,
they had been more than fixed. I feel we are stronger than ever, a united front ready to stand against any storm and not fall.
He cannot touch us, not in any way that matters.
April 8
What a morning, complete with epiphany. I should have known. I guess I’ve been too busy to think, which has been perfectly fine with me. While life with Larten’s parents would hardly be any Earther’s idea of a real vacation—the kind where you sit back and take it easy—I’ve had a nice respite from my own brain.
We work hard to maintain the homestead. We’ve been here nearly a week—that’s a Kalquorian ten-day week—and the labor is nonstop. How does Clan Denkar sustain the home when they don’t have the four extra adults to help (sometimes six, when Hatzeg and Tiron aren’t fighting to keep that iffy security field of theirs up and running)? Feeding the animals, cleaning their stalls, cleaning the yard where they’ve left steaming deliveries, mulching the garden, constantly chasing after an active infant-turning-toddler, the eternal repairs that come with mechanisms that feature used parts from every decade since God was a boy—that’s just scratching the surface. It’s nonstop from the moment we wake until we go to bed.
Even then, it’s nonstop, thanks to three amorous mates. Jeez, it’s a wonder I can put my legs together with all the loving. It turns out there’s a reason for that.
I might still be oblivious if Gilsa hadn’t cornered me after breakfast. The guys were hanging on me until she ordered them out to work.
“The part we need for the shuttle isn’t in yet,” Larten protested, snuggling against me as if I hadn’t had only four hours of sleep because of him and the other two…for the last five nights in a row.
“Then work on the heating element for the house. It’ll require all you men to muscle the replacement up onto the roof. I’ll use you while you’re here.” Gilsa glared at my orbiting clanmates. Then she glared at her own fellows, who were acting cozy with her as well.
There was plenty of grumbling as the six of them trooped out, but nobody messes with Gilsa when she’s made her mind up. She’s my hero.
As soon as the door shut behind our amorous mates, I snickered. “Hard work makes for hard men, doesn’t it?”
Gilsa eyed me. “You haven’t got a clue, do you?”
“About what?”
She shook her head. “When you were pregnant with Anrel, did you put out a scent? Because you sure as hell have been almost from the moment you landed here, and it’s getting stronger. I had to look it up on the database to figure out what was happening.”
My mouth dropped open. “I’m pregnant.” I’d realized I might be, but I’d been too busy running from Nang and then playing homesteader to consider it. I’d also forgotten that I’d carried an irresistible aroma with Anrel. “Well, hell. Sorry about that, Gilsa.”
“Oh, I don’t mind. Much. I could use a night off from reaping the benefits of you invigorating my clanmates, however.”
I slapped my palm against my forehead. “Ugh. How embarrassing.”
“Don’t be. I am worried about you not taking many breaks for yourself, though.”
I flapped my hands dismissively. “I’m not the delicate flower our men make pregnant women out to be.”
Gilsa chuckled. “No, thank the ancestors. You haven’t had a moment’s peace either, have you? Either you’re helping us—which I appreciate, believe you me! Or you’re taking care of Anrel. Or your clan, if I don’t miss my guess.” She patted my shoulder. “Shalia, I sneak off for a couple of hours every few days to collect myself. You need some alone time as well.”
I thought about what she said. That’s when it finally, really hit me. Ancestors and prophets, I am so dense.
“Shit. I’m pregnant. With my clan’s child.” The room rocked. I was going to give Clan Seot a baby.
“Sit down before you collapse,” Gilsa shoved me onto a chair. “A bit of a shock?”
“I’ve suspected, but I didn’t know for certain. For heaven’s sake, who sucked all the air out of the room?” I couldn’t catch my breath. My brain reeling, I stood up. “I have to tell them!”
“You have to get a grip.” Gilsa pointed to the chair. “Down. Now.”
She was right. Seot, Cifa, and Larten wouldn’t be able to enjoy the news if I was staggering and fainting all over the place. I sat and concentrated on not hyperventilating. On coming to terms with the future.
“Hey, no morning sickness yet,” I said after a few seconds of pulling myself together.
“Must be an Imdiko boy. Everyone says those are the easiest pregnancies,” Gilsa said. She winked. “What you’d call an old Mataras’ tale, I think.”
“Anrel wasn’t bad. A few queasy weeks, and I was able to eat anything that would hold still long enough for me to do so. Which breed do those old wives say causes the worst morning sickness?”
“Dramoks, because they want you to understand they’re there and in charge.” Gilsa laughed. “My mother swore up and down Larten would be one, because he had me retching my guts out all day, for six weeks straight.”
“Ugh. Well, as long as it’s healthy. Though Anrel could use a sister to share the limelight with.”
“You got lucky with this baby.” Gilsa blew a kiss at Anrel. She’d glanced up when I spoke her name. She sat on the floor, chewing on her stuffed animals. “For all the doting she receives, she only turns demanding when cookies and cake show up.”
“And when Larten is in the room and he’s not looking at her.” She continues her ‘Nobek-Daddy-is-the-best-parent’ phase.
“She does love him.” Gilsa beamed to be the mother of the favorite.
I was calming down. Thumps overhead told me the guys were on the roof, working on the heating system. “Well, I’m not telling them now. I don’t need the whole bunch falling off the top of the house.”
“No, you need to grab that alone time I was discussing. Right now. Those men won’t let you out of their sight the moment they find out you’re expecting.”
I could see her point. Kalquorian males do tend to be overprotective of a pregnant woman. “Thank goodness we’re in the honeymoon mindset, or I’d probably go nuts from the smothering that’s about to commence. Where’s my secret hideout?” The idea of a couple of hours to myself, to absorb the news, had gained extra attraction.
“You saw the trail behind the scrap metal piles?” Gilsa waved her hand towards the rear of the house.
She referred to the mountains of parts from defunct machinery that the clan kept and repurposed when the need came up. I had spotted the trail that led into the woods behind the clearing. Larten had said it was a nice nature trail that we would explore when we had the chance. Unfortunately, we never got a break to do so.
“Sure.”
“Walk it. Wear something you don’t mind getting wet in, because at the end of the path is the perfect place to soak your cares away. Anrel and I will chase pilchok because she loves it, then I’ll give her a bath. You’ll come back to clean baby, lunch, and the big news for your family. I’ll bake some sweetcakes for the occasion.”
I wasn’t about to say no to that. By the time I returned, I’d be over my initial shock and ready to surprise the guys.
* * * *
Gilsa is a brilliant woman. While I am here, I will adopt her policy of taking an hour or so every few days for myself.
I left her and Anrel shrieking with laughter as my little girl chased the pilchok flock across the yard. If the glee on Anrel’s face wasn’t worth hysterics…and how her chubby bowlegs jiggle as she waddles as fast as she can…being loud was advisable anyway. The guys were struggling to fix that heating unit, which was sitting in five huge pieces on the roof of the house. In between Gilsa and Anrel’s howls of laughter, I caught some pretty foul language drifting from on high. The expressions were thunderous to match. I figured it was just as well I was sneaking off. Nobody looked in a good mood for pregnancy news. Hopefully, they’ll have things working and be in better spirits when I return.
/> I struck off, passing the scrap metal pile and on the well-marked trail through the woods. The striped trunks and glorious foliage closed in around me. When the raucous laughter and yells faded, it was like being the only person on Lobam. Such peace!
I took my time. Gilsa had estimated I would get to the pond or lake or spring in about twenty minutes. She hadn’t been terribly specific about where I would end up. That was fine. I had three hours until I was due to return. I wore a soaksuit and a light poncho to cover up in, along with my rugged shoes. Not the cutest ensemble, but I would have the place to myself, since I wasn’t leaving Clan Denkar’s lands. I brought along a tote in which Gilsa had tossed some baked vegetable chips for snacking, plenty of water to drink, and my handheld. I wouldn’t have a signal to com or message anyone from where I was headed, but I could access my library if I chose to read while I relaxed.
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